The Lower Merion Libraries are Building for the Future, and you can help!

Our very own Lower Merion Library System is recognized as one of the best in the nation. That may come as a surprise even to those who visit our libraries frequently.

There’s a price for our success, though. With so many people and groups using and relying on the library for an ever-growing range of services and programs – particularly in the current economic climate – our libraries are being stretched to their limits and are in need of some long overdue maintenance and expansions. To that end, the Library System has developed a capital improvement plan that includes renovations at all six community libraries.

The Lower Merion Library Foundation has undertaken a $5 million capital campaign seeking private support from library users, friends and neighbors to supplement a significant investment by the Township in these important projects. On these pages you can learn more about the proposed improvements and how you can participate in Building for the Future.

Our nation’s founders recognized the importance of free access to information in creating a democratic society. As James Madison wrote in The Federalist, “a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives”. Today, access to knowledge continues to have a vital civic function, and plays an important role in social, economic, and spiritual aspects of individual and community life.

The Lower Merion Library Foundation has undertaken a task that is critical for the intellectual and civic future of the Township: raising $5 million in private contributions to help with $24 million in renovations to Lower Merion’s six successful libraries, which provide award-winning information services, community meeting space and free enrichment programs for children and lifelong learners alike. The plans for expansions and renovations at all of Lower Merion’s libraries take into account the libraries’ increasing role as gathering places for learning as well as changes in ways of delivering and accessing knowledge and information.